Morgan Stanley now expects to support tokenized equities on its alternative trading system in the first quarter of 2027, pushing back its earlier second-half 2026 target. Amyenburg, the bank's head of digital asset strategy, told The Block that infrastructure development continues, while limited product availability has kept institutional client demand low. Tokenized equities — blockchain-based representations of traditional shares — sit at the intersection of regulated finance and distributed ledger technology, and the schedule of a bank with Morgan Stanley's footprint offers a reference point for how traditional institutions are sequencing their entry into the space.

Infrastructure Work Pushes Timeline Into 2027

Oldenburg said Morgan Stanley is building the infrastructure required to support tokenized equities through its alternative trading system (ATS), describing Q1 2027 as a more realistic timeline than the one she outlined in March.

The bank needs tokenized equity products to exist before its ATS can support them, yet institutional clients currently have limited opportunities to access such products, according to Oldenburg. She also flagged regulatory uncertainty as a further hurdle for traditional financial institutions, citing unresolved questions about Federal Reserve permissibility and noting that some elements of the proposed CLARITY Act — US legislation intended to establish a clearer market-structure framework for digital assets — remain insufficiently defined.

Morgan Stanley's ATS matches orders outside public exchanges such as Nasdaq. The bank already offers equities, derivatives and swaps through this model, and Oldenburg described tokenization as an extension of its existing services.

DTCC Launch and GENIUS Act Among Key Developments

Morgan Stanley is monitoring the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's planned tokenization service launch, which Oldenburg identified as a development that could encourage further market activity. The DTCC sits at the center of US post-trade settlement, giving its move into tokenization potential significance across the broader market.

The bank is also watching the GENIUS Act, the US stablecoin legislation Oldenburg said was scheduled to take effect in January.

Together, these developments form part of the wider infrastructure and regulatory landscape shaping institutional participation in tokenized assets. The near-term checkpoints to track are concrete: the DTCC service's launch, the GENIUS Act's January implementation, and how the CLARITY Act's open questions are resolved — each mapping to a constraint Oldenburg tied to the bank's timeline.

Digital Asset Efforts Extend Beyond Tokenized Equities

Beyond tokenized equities, Morgan Stanley is developing proprietary wallet infrastructure for clients holding tokenized assets. The firm has also established a Digital Asset Lab to test blockchain and crypto-native technologies before production deployment.

Oldenburg identified private shares, structured notes, custom products and private fund access as potential near-term tokenization opportunities. She also discussed the possibility of using tokenized assets as collateral.

Earlier this year, the bank received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a digital trust for custody or staking services.

Oldenburg additionally expects the tokenized real-world asset market to reach between $3 trillion and $10 trillion by 2030.

Reference: WuBlockchain on X